Game apparatus for lawn-bowling



(No Model.)

B. W. HAINES Game Apparatus for Lawn Bowling. No. 232,606.

Patented Sept. 28,1880.

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o/%'0;2 14 Z70 r. dwwwa w %W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

EDWARD W. HAINES, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

GAME APPARATUS FOR LAWN-BOWLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 232,606, dated September 28, 1880.

Applicationflled June 4, 1880.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. HAINES, of the city of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Game Apparatus for Lawn-Bowling, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for lawn-bowling; and it consists in the combination, with the ten pins and balls in ordinary use, of a device for mounting the pins upon the turf or sod out of doors and a device for checking the motion of the balls when thrown. I

Figure 1 of the drawings represents, in perspective. the entire game apparatus for lawnbowling set up for use, and Figs. 2 to 10 the details of construction.

In Fig. 1, A A are the boundary-lines of the field, either real or imaginary, in which the game apparatus for lawn-bowling is placed. B is the base where the players are stationed, and O the point where the pins are set up.

To adapt the game for use out of doors I have devised certain appliances to be used with the ordinary balls and pins upon any suitable piece of ground, either sodded or smoothly rolled, finding that any place adapted for a set of croquet is suitable for my improved game of lawn-bowlin g. These appliances are removable foot-plates, to be inserted in the ground for sustaining the pins in position, and a foldin g or flexible screen adapted for removal and convenient packing when not in use. The foot-plate I make of wood, metal, or any suitable substance, and construct it with a flat top and projections on the lower side adapted to readily penetrate the ground. When made of wood the top would be round and turned in one piece with a central peg, and when made of iron I form the top plate either round or square, as preferred, attaching a pin or pins to the lower side to keep the plate firm and level and in a fixed position. The pin may be riveted or cast upon the plate, as preferred,

and is forced into the sod by the foot, the

plates being arranged in desired positions to support the pins 0.

Fig. 2 shows a bottom view of around footplate, a, and Fig; 4 a similar view of a square plate.

' the stake for the purpose.

(No model.)

Fig. 3 serves as an edge view of either form of plate, 11 being a central pin or spike for holding it in position in the sod, as desired.

In Fig. l, c are the ten-pins, five of which are shown standing upon their foot-platesa, and d are the balls usually employed to roll at the pins 0. As these balls are easily dented and injuredby contact with anything hard, and as the screen employed to arrest them needs to be easily removed when not in use, I have devised a canvas screen capable of being folded up and packed in a box with the rest of the apparatus.

A suitable box is shown in Fig. 5, its interior being divided into two compartments, one of which receives the pins 0, balls cl, and footplates a, while the other accommodates the screen D and stakes E. These latter are, in practice, made five feet in length, and are driven into the ground at each end of the screen, which may be attached to them by hooks and eyelets, as shown. at e e in Fig. 1,

' or by sewing a fold, f, across the end of the cloth and slipping it over the top of the stake. The latter method is far the more durable means of the two, and when employed I pro vide one or two eyelet-holes in the fold, as at i, Fig. 10, and insert a pin, g, into the same and through corresponding holes it made in The loweredge of the screen is thus supported at a level with the ground, at which point it needs to be weighted or stiffened to prevent the balls (1 from crowding under it. That no injury may be done to the balls at this point, I employ a rod or bar, *r, of small diameter relatively to the balls, for the purpose of weighting the extreme edge of the screen close to the ground. I make the bar 1" preferably of round iron and sew it into ahem in the bottom of the screen, where it lies too low to receive any direct impact from the balls, while it makes the screen quite straight and secure as far as it extends.

By making the bar 1" five feet in length, like the stakes, the ends of the screen can. be folded over upon it, and the whole cloth readily rolled upon it like a roller, the length of the roll thereby agreeing exactly with the dimensions of the box in Fig. 5.

The ends of the hem in which the rod r is inserted may be left open for the ready removal of the rod, if desired; or the rod may be inserted in a series of rings sewedto the lower edge of the screen, if desired.

In Fig. 6 is shown one of the stakes de tached and provided with the hooks c, as well as the alternative holes h. Fig. 7 shows one of the pins, g, for holding the end of the cloth to the stake when made with the fold, as shown at both ends of the detached view of the screen. (Shown in Figs. 9 and 10.) In both of these views, which present a plan and elevation of the screen, the weighting-rod r is shown inclosed in the edge of the cloth. The rod is also shown detached in Fig. 8.

From the description above the use of the several parts will be readily understood, and it will be seen that the constructive features may be somewhat modified without losing the essential features of my invention, which consist, first, in a separate removable foot-plate for each pin 0; and, second, in a screen combined with two stakes and stifiened at the bottom toprevcnt the passage of the balls d.

The game may be played with either nine or ten pins, or any desired number, and they are intended to be set up and knocked down by the balls and the score computed as usual in such games. The game may also be set up where there is no grass, as the ballsroll equally well over smooth earth; butthey become soiled and bruised when thus used.

By furnishing a box similar to that shown in Fig. 5 the entire apparatus can be readily transported and kept from injury or theft, and can be readily set out for use in afew minutes by the peculiar construction I have devised, especially if blank pegs are inserted in the holes in the earth to keep them from filling up when the stakes and foot-plates are removed.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim the same as follows:

1. The removable foot-plates a, the pins 0, balls d, screen D, and stakes E, arranged and employed for the game of lawn-bowling, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The screen D, provided with the stiffening rod or rods 4 in the bottom, for the purpose set forth, said rod or rods being shorter than the entire length of the screen, that the latter may be folded over at the ends and packed in a box-with the stakes and other appliances herein described for the game of lawn-bowling.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand this 2d day of June, 1880.

Attest: EDWARD W. HAINES.

WILLIAM H. (JORBIN, CHAS. L. DUNN. 

